Library Management
How does an exemplary library program support school communities?
While the best libraries are successful because of the staff, the biggest challenge in building resource collections for school libraries today is inclusion of e-books and e-textbooks. In my school district, school libraries are responsible for management of textbooks. Publishing companies are promoting the purchase of e-textbooks, and I have been part of school-based discussions about whether or not to purchase a license as a pilot project. Because my school does not have a BYOD policy or common usage devices, and because our district has a commitment to open source resources, we have decided to wait before commiting to e-textbooks. As a teacher librarian, I have questions about the benefits of e-textbooks for reading and learning. As I was pondering the question of e-textbooks, Apple Corporation released a program for the Lion O/S, called Author. This new program was created to give teachers and authors an easy means of creating multimedia textbooks which could used on iPad devices. I wondered whether this program and the graphic user interface (GUI) would enhance the reading/learning process or whether the various multimedia affordances would be more of a distraction to students' learning. This question formed the basis of my research proposal for ETEC 500. While I knew I wouldn't be able to begin the research immediately, due to a need to balance work, academics and family, I recognized this would be a question I would follow up on after I had completed my MET program. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to have the opportunity in ETEC 510 to work with a group to design an e-textbook for the iPad. This project will be discussed further in Branch 3 - Creative design and technology.
Resource Management
Social media is key part of creating the Virtual Commons, or digital side of the Learning Commons. As part of my work in EDES 541 (School Library Collection Development), I needed to begin to create a library website. The website below is actually the 3rd version of my school library website since 2008. Initially, I created a Weebly site, but discarded it, when our district instituted Moodle in all of our schools. I then created a course in Moodle, but was never happy with either the look or the functionality of the earlier version. Using Bates and Poole's (2003) SECTIONS framework, I revisited what our school community needed. In looking at a number of resources, I decided to return to Weebly. It was appropriate for the students because of the appealing visuals and familiarity of the embedded resources. It made linking to the most frequently used resources much easier for students. Weebly is easy to work with for both the web designer and students. It is very reliable. It was free, as we were not creating a private domain name. Use of the website would be intuitive as almost all of the links were already familiar to students from previous iterations of the webpage. Because we were adding videos and online book clubs, the site had become more interactive. It also had links to the school library's Twitter feed and Facebook page. There were no organizational changes necessary, the tool was relatively novel thanks to improved visuals and it was quickly and easily changed, thanks in particular to the addition of a Symbaloo on the Tool Page. Having applied the SECTIONS framework, I knew I would be able to apply it whenever we wanted to be the early adopters of new technologies with a sound rationale to give to administrators concerned about costs and safety.
Having focused on school library practicalities in my courses from the University of Alberta, it was deeply satisfying to be able to take research and theory and apply them to my everyday work with technology, knowing that I could reasonably justify my designs and actions. The Learning Commons model was further supported by constructivist theories, online models of learning and methods of selecting technologies which could enhance achievement and the building of a community of inquiry. The Virtual Commons, or technological side of the Learning Commons, is the key to making school libraries an even more efficient method of ensuring high school students have a wealth of learning resources available to them, when needed, including video lessons in information literacy skills which supplement the lessons occurring during school hours.
Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a theory of online learning. In Theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Retrieved February 25, 2013, from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008
Bates, A. W. (2003). A framework for selecting and using technology. In G. Poole (Ed.), Effective teaching with technology in higher eduction: Foundations for success (pp. 75-105). New York, NY: Wiley, John, & Sons.
Hofschire, L., Dr. (2013, February). School library impact [Infographic]. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from http://www.lrs.org/documents/school/school_library_impact.jpg
Lance, K. C., Rodney, M. J., & Schwartz, B. (2010). The impact of school libraries on academic achievement: A research study based on responses from administrators in Idaho. School Library Monthly, 26(9), 14-17. Retrieved October 3, 2010, from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=49574374&site=ehost-live&scope=siteThe New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures.Harvard Educational Review, 66(A), 1-34. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
Loertscher, D. V. (2011). The new learning commons where learners win!: Reinventing school libraries and computer labs (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City, UT: Hi Willow Research & Publishing.